Chadwick Weekend

Weekend trips to Chadwick are always fun...even if Ben gets hurt (and he has the last two trips!) Most of the group takes off riding their dirtbikes on the trails during the daytime, but Shelley will often take off into town to do things (like get new tattoos or retouch old ones at her favorite shop!) or visit old college friends. This trip, Shelley met up with Jody and had a fun time catching up over Starbucks! On our last trip, it was pretty cold and raining the entire weekend. Thankfully, Ian's Mom had volunteered to stay at the house with the kids. So this was a kid-free weekend - which meant we didn't have to get up at 7am....sleeping in is always a huge blessing! Thank you Marlene!! But the rain didn't stop the boys. Here is a great shot of them getting ready to go off riding.

And while they left on the trails, Misty and Shelley had to get the camp rain-proofed by trying to tie up a huge tarp over the tents.

At the end of the day, Ian still loves his toy and trips to Chadwick even more!

Playing with Friends

Occasionally getting together with college friends is a must. And while Amy and Austin Brown were in town with their family (on their anniversary none the less! They like to spend their anniversary nights at our house for some reason...) We had to see them. We also saw Steve and Andi, as well as Julie and Brad!

Daphne and Olivia enjoyed a book read to them by Amy.

At one of our favorite places to grab a burger (Five Guys Burgers and Fries) Malachi and Jude enjoyed Amy's entertainment! Amy is wonderful with kids!

It was great to see Steve and Andi too! They only live a few miles from us....hmmm, we need to see them more than just when Amy and Austin come into the state!

Four Red Heads

On our friend Shawn's birthday, his wife Misty surprised him with a special night out. So we watched their kids and enjoyed a night of four red heads! Elijah had his blanket tied on like a cape and enjoyed playing on our swingset.

Elijah and Eden got over their fear of Ophelia by chasing her and playing "catch" with her! Then after we went inside to eat dinner, all four kids wanted to watch Shrek. How very cute. Misty later told me, both kids slept great that night - so maybe we should watch them more!

Webb Family

Not long ago, the Webb family came up on a lovely Friday night for dinner and to let the kids play (that means the actual kids and the husbands). The Mom's enjoyed chocolate cake, too! Dylan and Daphne are only about ten days apart in age, and they love to play together! Here's a photo taken from the kitchen window of them playing together in "Daphne's house".

And the big boys got in an hour or so on the Wii. They got pretty hard core playing our new game Sport Resort!

Jude was embarrassed to take his picture with Shelley... this is his "Put me down!" look.

Happy Birthday Nancy!

One of Ian and Shelley's coworkers had the big birthday - 3 - 0. So her husband gave her a surprise dinner party. Ian and Shelley were happy to go, and even happier that Aunt Brenda would watch the kids for a much needed night out! Seen below are coworkers Cara, Nancy and Shelley.

Merry Go Round

While Shelley was still recovering from her surgery in July, each kid spent a week up at Grandma's house in Iowa. In the middle, Shelley and her cousin Lisa drove to near the Missouri/Iowa border to swap out kids. At a small diner where we all met, the kids wanted to ride the fake Merry Go Round. It was only a quarter to ride, but around five bucks was spent letting the kids ride. It's okay, it was well worth it!

Now a Family Blog

Welcome to our newly revamped FAMILY BLOG! All the posts older than this one are written from Jude's point of view. But Shelley is a little too lazy to keep up two blogs and a facebook account in the few tiny moments that she actually gets to play online. So....both kids blogs have been reduced to the one family blog instead. Makes it easier for all. And Shelley promises to update more frequently, like she used to. She promises. Or else you (all three readers of you!) can be really mean to her. Or give her chocolate.